The physical environment in Northern Greece at the advent of the Neolithic

Gkouma, Myrsini; Karkanas, Panagiotis

doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2016.08.034

Cited by 18 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…The only marked shift in temperature and humidity for the period of interest is related to a climate anomaly culminating around 6175–6025 calBC [ 18 , 19 ], a few centuries after the establishment of the first farming settlements in the coastal plains of Thessaly and Aegean Macedonia [ 20 – 23 ]. This was a period of abnormal seasonal contrasts, with pronounced cooling during winter and a reversing of the seasonal pattern in the Aegean to summers with excessive rainfall and storms [ 24 , 25 ]. By 6000 calBC, however, climate in southeast Europe had recovered its stability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pioneer farming in southeast Europe during the early sixth millennium BC: Climate-related adaptations in the exploitation of plants and animals

et al. 2018

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The Old World farming system arose in the semi-arid Mediterranean environments of southwest Asia. Pioneer farmers settling the interior of the Balkans by the early sixth millennium BC were among the first to introduce southwest Asian-style cultivation and herding into areas with increasingly continental temperate conditions. Previous research has shown that the bioarchaeological assemblages from early farming sites in southeast Europe vary in their proportions of plant and animal taxa, but the relationship between taxonomic variation and climate has remained poorly understood. To uncover associations between multiple species and environmental factors simultaneously, we explored a dataset including altitude, five bioclimatic and 30 bioarchaeological variables (plant and animal taxa) for 57 of the earliest farming sites in southeast Europe using Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA). An extension of correspondence analysis, CCA is widely used in applied ecology to answer similar questions of species-environment relationships, but has not been previously applied in prehistoric archaeology to explore taxonomic and climatic variables in conjunction. The analyses reveal that the changes in plant and animal exploitation which occurred with the northward dispersal of farmers, crops and livestock correlate with south-north climate gradients, and emphasize the importance of adaptations in the animal domain for the initial establishment of farming beyond the Mediterranean areas.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pioneer farming in southeast Europe during the early sixth millennium BC: Climate-related adaptations in the exploitation of plants and animals

et al. 2018

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“…On the whole, the LN period seems to be one of increasing site numbers and the colonisation of more marginal lands (Andreou et al, 2001). The EN setback in forest cover may also have been influenced by the 8.2 ka cold climate event (Gkouma and Karkanas, 2018;Kotthoff et al, 2008;Pross et al, 2009;Weninger et al, 2006Weninger et al, , 2014.…”

Section: The Onset Of Farming and Neolithic Land Usementioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term trends of land use and demography in Greece: A comparative study

et al. 2019

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This paper offers a comparative study of land use and demographic development in northern and southern Greece from the Neolithic to the Byzantine period. Results from summed probability densities (SPD) of archaeological radiocarbon dates and settlement numbers derived from archaeological site surveys are combined with results from cluster-based analysis of published pollen core assemblages to offer an integrated view of human pressure on the Greek landscape through time. We demonstrate that SPDs offer a useful approach to outline differences between regions and a useful complement to archaeological site surveys, evaluated here especially for the onset of the Neolithic and for the Final Neolithic (FN)/Early Bronze Age (EBA) transition. Pollen analysis highlight differences in vegetation between the two sub-regions, but also several parallel changes. The comparison of land cover dynamics between two sub-regions of Greece further demonstrates the significance of the bioclimatic conditions of core locations and that apparent oppositions between regions may in fact be two sides of the same coin in terms of socio-ecological trajectories. We also assess the balance between anthropogenic and climate-related impacts on vegetation and suggest that climatic variability was as an important factor for vegetation regrowth. Finally, our evidence suggests that the impact of humans on land cover is amplified from the Late Bronze Age (LBA) onwards as more extensive herding and agricultural practices are introduced.

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“…1-2). This observation is widespread and has been made for Neolithic sites in western Macedonia (Lespez, 2008;Karkanas et al, 2011;Kouli and Dermitzakis 2008;Kouli, 2015;Gkouma et Karkanas, 2016), Northwestern Anatolia (Boyer et al, 2006;Groenhuijzen et al, 2015;Stock et al, 2015) and the Balkan region generally (Filipovic et al, 2014). On the contrary, the defensive character of the Dikili Tash site was not a priority because more than half of the Late Neolithic sites on the Philippi-Drama plain are flat, unprotected sites located on the gentle slopes of the piedmont (Lespez, 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Human-shaped landscape history in NE Greece. A palaeoenvironmental perspective

Glais

Lespez

Vannière

et al. 2017

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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Following palaeobotanical, sedimentological and archaeological research recently conducted on and around the tell of Dikili Tash (Eastern Macedonia, Greece), we present continuous palaeoenvironmental data on this multi-period site. This study combines pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs), macro-charcoal and sedimentological analyses that are compared with archaeological data from the Middle Neolithic to Antiquity period. It provides an overview of the local environment near the former Tenaghi-Philippon marsh and a comprehensive view of human impact on vegetation cover in lowlands. As early as ca. 4550 cal BC, an initial phase of change in vegetation cover, has been recorded. This period, in the Eastern Mediterranean region, is one of intensifying human activities and social interactions into the Balkan region, which resulting in the foundation and transformation of early Late Neolithic societies. Although the palynological record does not show the crops species grown, the intensive clearance resulted in the increase of open herbaceous landscapes with anthropogenic indicators. This, as well as the increase of macro-charcoal values strongly supports a more or less continuously shaping of the landscape by human induced fires. New tree species that also became established at this time include Olea and Castanea.. The presence of three main formations can be argued from the Early Neolithic to Antiquity: (1) riparian vegetation, (2) oak woodlands and (3) open vegetation in the form of wooded grasslands. Beyond the responses to climate changes, the vegetation composition reflects a regionally diversified land management system as indicated by a greater diversity in cultivated or harvested plants. The study reveals two phases of decline in land use directly on the edge of the marsh, although indicators of anthropogenic disturbance of the vegetation never entirely disappear during these periods between 3900-3300 cal BC at the transition from the Late Neolithic (LNII) to the Bronze Age and from 1650-800 cal BC when we observe a reorganization of the settlement on the higher slopes. In contrast, four periods are characterized by an increase in land use extension and intensification: Late Neolithic (4500-3900 cal BC); Early to Middle Bronze Age (3000-1600 cal BC), the Iron Age (1000-800 cal BC) and Antiquity during the Macedonian (ca. 357-148 cal BC) and Roman periods (148 cal BC-cal AD 395).

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The physical environment in Northern Greece at the advent of the Neolithic

Cited by 18 publications

References 67 publications

Pioneer farming in southeast Europe during the early sixth millennium BC: Climate-related adaptations in the exploitation of plants and animals

Pioneer farming in southeast Europe during the early sixth millennium BC: Climate-related adaptations in the exploitation of plants and animals

Long-term trends of land use and demography in Greece: A comparative study

Human-shaped landscape history in NE Greece. A palaeoenvironmental perspective

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